


Flight

by Finnlay, Nausi



Series: A heavy heart to carry [8]
Category: Marvel (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Angst and Romance, Developing Relationship, Explicit Language, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14863134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finnlay/pseuds/Finnlay, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nausi/pseuds/Nausi
Summary: Drabble #08:All Quentin wanted was three cups of coffee and no one annoying him. What he gets instead is relationship drama and trying to explain Daken's bad life choices. Quentin didn't sign up for that when he became friends with Bobby but then again, what's life without some drama?





	Flight

There's a game  
That I play  
There are rules  
I had to break  
There's mistakes  
That I made  
But I made them  
My way

**Black Lab -** This Night

* * *

It was seven o’clock which was an inhumane time to be awake but sleep had decided not to come visit him this night and so Quentin found himself wandering into the kitchen. In search of coffee of course. But instead he found a miserable looking pile of human.

“Wow.” Quentin arched one pink brow as he grabbed for a mug to fill with life giving coffee, “You look like death itself fucked you through the mattress all night.” It was too early for his filter to be on and Bobby did look _terrible_. Hair messy, stubble on his cheeks, shirt on the wrong way and hanging over his bowl of cereal like a zombie. This was the opposite of cheerful morning person Bobby Drake.

Bobby didn’t look up, and if he thought he could’ve gotten away without answering at all he would have remained silent. Instead he finished his bite and then said, “Go find something to be jealous and insecure about you Natsu Fairy Tail cosplay reject.”

That was not the type of reaction Quentin had come to expect of one of the only people he would call ‘friend’ without second thought. There was a moment of silence as he contemplated what to do and then Quentin slid his glasses on and settled on the opposite side of the table. “Alright, what happened?”

“He left.” Bobby sighed, feeling bad for snapping at Quen now that his friend was being serious. “Everything was going great. I told him how pretty he is, and how I think he’s really smart without being condescending. He pointed out that he is condescending all the time and I countered with, _‘Only when you want to be a jerk. You can turn it off, and you love learning. I love that about you._ ’ Then he leaned over and kissed me.” Bobby groaned. 

Dumping sugar into his coffee he made a thoughtful sound and then asked, “Okay, what came then? Because that’s not a reason to run. Sounds more like a good reason to give you a blowie.”

“Right? I was pretty smooth.” Bobby almost smiled but then he remembered what came next. “The first thing out of his mouth when we came up for air was that it was a bad idea. I said something along the lines of, _‘If loving you is wrong I don’t want to be right’_. I leaned in for another kiss, he didn’t kiss back, told me I was a romantic idiot and that I was erasing his past. I pointed out that he’s not the first person with a dark past or unorthodox morals that the Xmen have made peace and alliance with. I also said something along the lines of ‘I mean it Daken, I want to be with you.’ And then he walked out on me. He didn’t say anything. He walked out. I gave it an hour and stopped by his room but it was just empty. I sent a half dozen texts, called twice, nothing.”

“Too much.” Quentin leaned back and arched a brow, “You said too much. Daken was giving you warnings that you were pushing and you didn’t understand. He wasn’t ready to hear these things and accept them. Look, some people don’t do _emotions_ and _confessions_. You scared him, you were playing with fire and didn’t notice that you were threatening to suffocate the flame until it left.”

“I got tired of tiptoeing. He kissed me and it felt so good.” Bobby looked down at his cereal, felt sick, and stood up. “I can’t eat. I can’t do this. He isn’t ready. Fine. Fine with me. I’ll spend a week on the heartbreak diet and then move on.” Bobby walked the bowl to the sink, tipped it over and turned on the disposal.

“Ice cream, cookies and too much soda? Yeah, I’ve been there.” Quentin sighed and sipped from his mug before saying more, “If you really want him, if you love him … you need to be ready to play with his rules. Daken is like …” He made a thoughtful sound and then said, “Like someone got a puzzle game and they threw away the picture of what it was supposed to be. Then they shook up all the pieces and some got lost, some damaged, some put in the wrong order and now he’s just _barely_ functioning like a person.”

“What about what I need?” Bobby looked at his friend and shook his head, “I do want him but I can’t do this yoyo business, hot and cold, and running away. I … I’m not made for it.”

“You scared him and he’s a feral Mutant, Bobby. It’s all _fight, flight_ or _freeze_ for him. The fact that he picked fleeing over fighting and that he _didn’t_ freeze up on you – that means a lot.” He cocked his head, “Daken has been trying pretty hard to fit in here and find his place. I mean, I don’t think I should mention this but … he’s asked me to work on the conditioning with him. He wants to be better, Bobby. Don’t judge him on a single action. Judge him on whether or not he comes back and apologizes.”

“What? You think I could say no if he showed back up?” Bobby laughed and leaned against the counter. “I don’t think you realize how bad I’ve got it for him. It’s just … I didn’t sleep and now I’m a big bag of emotions I don’t know what to do with. I’m so worried about him and I can’t fix this by punching it.”

“Yeah, you can’t punch -” He paused, blinked and then laughed, “Well, you _could_ punch him but I wouldn’t advise that. In that kind of context it might be considered domestic abuse and that’s just not your style.”

“Yeah I’m not Pym. I wouldn’t do something stupid like that. Besides, I’m in love with his stupid beautiful face. I don’t want to punch him. I want to kiss him, a lot, all over his face.”

“Act. Don’t talk. Remember, words scare him. Actions are a lot less scary.” Quentin stood up and filled his mug a second time, “He’ll be back.”

“Sure.” Bobby sighed and waved at Quentin, “And being an accountant is going to make me richer than you.” There was no doubt about it in his mind. Bobby was sure that he’d blown it entirely. That was why he was venting so angrily and saying things he didn’t totally agree with or believe. Daken was worth all the worry and heartache. _If only I hadn’t opened my big stupid mouth_. Bobby headed back to his room. He’d called out of his classes and was taking a personal day. Kitty had to figure out how to cover his classes. If he was lucky he’d catch a nap before someone tried to blow up New York.

~~~~~~~

The click of the door made Daken flinch unwillingly. Coming back had taken every bit of willpower and stubbornness that he had. Now he was tired and drained, and so endlessly sorry for running. As Bobby entered the room he swallowed and then said, before Bobby had the chance to kick him out, “I am sorry.”

“Oh thank winter you’re here and not LA or Madripoor, or the Savage Land or the Moon.” Bobby was beyond surprised, all the way to excited and delirious. He crossed the distance between them with a big goofy grin on his tired face. “You’re okay! Oh thank - yes, just yes. Hi. Thank you Daken, thank you.”

“I ran.” Daken looked confused, he wasn’t sure why Bobby was _thanking_ him. “I ran away, Bobby. Why the hell are you thanking me?”

“You came back safe and in under twenty four hours.” He grinned from ear to ear and wondered if he looked as giddy as he felt. His eyes stung, “You also don’t seem to hate me. So that’s a plus.”

“I love you.” The words happened and Daken felt terrified and elated at the same time. He had thought this for weeks, months even, but shied away from saying it every single time.

There was something that Bobby wanted desperately to say back to Daken, but he couldn’t. Everything was too intense, and he had been too worked up for too long. Rather than grin and ask for a kiss, or redeclare his feelings, Bobby’s eyes closed and his head listed to the side. 

“Whoa, hey, hey -” Daken wrapped his arms around Bobby, deftly catching him before Bobby ended up on the floor, “I know I’m great but you don’t have to _faint_ on me.” It was a weak attempt at humor as he brought the other man to the bed and settled him down.

It took a moment but Bobby started to come around. “Did you just catch me, carry me like a princess, and make a joke?” Bobby laughed a little and pulled Daken down, “I haven’t had more than five hours of sleep at once in the last four days. Sorry’bout fainting on you.”

Kicking off his shoes and throwing the coat aside Daken got into the bed and wrapped his arms around Bobby. “Close your eyes. Just sleep. I promise I will be here when you wake up.”

“I’m super good with tender romantic face kissing while I sleep.” Even as Bobby spoke his eyes started to close again. This time because without the tension and stress there was nothing keeping him awake. “Thanks.”

Daken waited until Bobby was asleep to whisper, “No, thank _you_. For everything.” Kissing Bobby’s forehead he closed his own eyes and sighed contently. Home. This was home and he wasn’t going to run again. Not like that. _Thank you._


End file.
